THE opening event of the new European tour season is not going to be forgotten by Bradley Dredge in a hurry. And that is after just the first round.

A five-under-par 67 gave the 31-year-old Welshman a share of the lead with Australian Unho Park in the Volvo China Open. But the playing of the golf has been the easy bit so far.

Firstly, Dredge spent nine hours at Hong Kong airport on Tuesday to see if a visa was going to be issued to him.

"Because I was playing in the World Cup in Spain last week I hadn't been able to send my passport off to the Chinese embassy," he said.

"I'd been in touch with the tour, who were liaising with the China Golf Association, but flying back from Spain on Sunday I didn't feel like coming and if I thought I could have got back the é2,000 I'd spent on air tickets I probably wouldn't have.

"I was worried that the trip would be for nothing and it was all a bit of a nightmare really, but eventually I was given the visa at 6pm Tuesday, caught an 8.30 flight and got to my hotel just after midnight."

Then there has been the journey to and from the course. Shanghai Silport is described in a golf guide as a 30 to 40-minute drive from the centre of probably the world's most densely-populated city, but in the rush hours it has been taking more than twice as long.

At least Dredge, for some reason, has not been suffering the same jet-lag problems as most of the European contingent in the co-sanctioned event and that helped him grab a chip-in eagle and three birdies in the last six holes.

Former Ryder Cup player Barry Lane birdied five of the last six for a 68 and so went into the second round joint third with fellow Englishman Matthew King, Wales' Stephen Dodd, Zimbabwean Marc Cayeux, Australia's Jason Dawes and Indian Amandeep Johl.